MMORPG : Ancient WORLD

A cloaked figure, followed closely by a dark-robed girl, walked the onyx-dark stone roads of a bustling city that was nested atop a supermassive mountain, whose peak pierced through the clouds, bathing directly under the moonlight and radiance of the countless stars.

The entire city was nested within a crater encircled by unevenly layered colossal walls with jagged edges formed by the meteor's impact, which had once struck the mountain many millennia ago.

These walls glowed faintly with countless dots of luminescence, which occasionally zipped through the dark wall before vanishing like shooting stars, creating a beautiful sight all around.

The mountain was called the Bellowing Pinnacle, while the city atop it was the Starfall Sword sect.

'I may not have another opportunity to participate in a game of this caliber with such favorable odds for quite some time, even if I add to my winning streak,'

'But once I join the game, I will be forced to do my best for victory, meaning no time for proper practice, because losing or leaving the game will mean entering the loser's list, which will make me not receive a high-level game until I win some minor games,' Alex thought, his mind contemplating every possible route he could take.

The Apex conquests were champion games, and while everyone who completed their epochal trial was considered a champion, there were levels to them.

Even those who started at the highest level thanks to their performance in the yearly trial were far from the peak and could grow by winning the champion games, inturn participate in better games for much better rewards.

In the past year and two months, since Alex had entered the realm, he had participated in three games in total, two of them being minor games and one being a major game, which was also the only game he lost, and he did so because in the game setting luck mattered more than skills.

So, Alex's track record was good, but it would not stay as such, with two major losses and only two minor victories. Although he will still have opportunities to enter big games even with a new loss, it will take considerably longer to receive such opportunities.

"Qin, what does the old man want from me?" Alex questioned as the duo navigated their way down the mountain paths.

"Senior Brother, I don't know, but Big Sister seemed very happy when she told me to wait outside your seclusion chamber and inform you of the Great Elder's summon as soon as you left," Qin replied, her voice soft yet energetic.

'Probably another attempt by the old man to send me on a mission with Lady Yue,' Alex thought before he continued to contemplate what option he had in his situation.

After descending the mountain for a few minutes, Alex and Qin entered a narrow passageway and arrived at a cliff, nearly obscured by drifting clouds, barely leaving the small shed visible.

"Aeon, I hope your efforts in refining your skills have brought you success." Lady Yue, a female of breathtaking beauty, greeted Alex with a smile stretched across her.

Alex returned the smile as he nodded, and that alone seemed to brighten her icy blue eyes, showing the blinded, one-sided affection she held for him.

Alex had entered the sect three months ago, and he did so through a record-breaking performance in their trial, and he did so to gain attention and quickly get what he wanted, but whether it was luck or his bad luck, the head disciple of the great elder who held the entry token shard, seemingly fell in love with him.

Alex bluntly made it very clear the moment Lady Yue confessed her love to him, that he had no interest in having a relationship with her or any other female of the realm, thinking she was trying to make her join her faction since the competition was fierce in sects.

However, Alex soon found out that he was wrong with his assumption and Lady Yue was a pure maiden of immense talent, belonging to a very powerful family and was regularly offered to join other higher-ranked guilds and families, yet she refused

So when she proposed in front of all the elders and high-ranking disciples who had rushed to see the anomaly, it was shocking to the least, but knowing her nature did not change how Alex felt about it.

Alex did not know if she truly fell for him or had some motives of her own, but because of her, he was enemy number one of all her fans, and the elder who held the token shard refused to give him without him first fulfilling certain conditions.

"Big Sister, Huang, and his two goons were planning to attack Senior Brother. But then he came out with darkness following him, that swiftly engulfed everything, and when it faded, those three toads were lying unconscious on the floor."

"You should have seen it. Senior Brother looked so cool and made it look effortless," Qin said eagerly as she ran to her side, and as happy as Lady Yue looked hearing the small incident, her chilling aura said otherwise.

"They'll need more than a few clowns to trouble my boy," A calm, mature voice sounded as a figure appeared next to Alex, gently patting him on the shoulder.

It was Kang Yijun, the Great Elder, a man in his sixties with a slightly wrinkled face, a thick white mustache, and eyebrows longer than usual, but despite his age, one could see his chiseled physique beneath his loose, dark robe.

"Greetings, Teacher," Alex said with a respectful bow.

"My boy, I think I have found a solution to your problem,"

"While I was unable to locate a memory shard of sanguine avatar technique or any technique with such capabilities, but from one of my gambling buddies who belong to an Imperial sect, I did win some very secretive information,"

"But before I share the possibly great news, would you mind lending this old man some Qi Crystals? I lost all of mine trying to get the intel my precious student needed," The old man said after a short pause with a sheepish smile that definitely did not suit him.

'This old man is at it again,' Alex thought, feeling the urge to say no but knew better.

Oldman Kang was a bit of a character. Even though he was one of the two elders, he had little to no strength, barely surpassing an early-stage Fourth Rank individual.

However, there was a heroic story behind his condition, which Alex did not believe even for a instance because the old man, even with his barely present aura, gave him the chills.

But besides his unusual aura, he was a crack gambler and a very bad one at that. At the same time, he was also very generous and did a lot of charity, but only with the profits that he won through gambling.

"Master, I will lend you some crystals, so please share the information with Aeon," Lady Yue said before Alex could answer.

"I heard from old Zou that a student of their sect elder ran off with the research of his master after killing him and had been missing for years, but it seems he had finally popped his head out the ground,"

"The elder was researching a method to use any cloning technique of blood element to do Clone Infusion, as instead of creating a distinct clone, the user channels the energy and essence that would form a clone directly back into an existing clone or even real individual."

"If it works with clones, then it would massively boost their strength, and as for other individuals, it would do the same, but it could also lead to some major gene defects and other complications."

"However, this concept of Infusion existed for thousands of years, but the major issue was the gene overloading that caused the subject to collapse or begin mutating after a certain stage, so it was an agreed-upon failure."

"The elder was working on a technique called the Selective Mass Assimilation Technique, where he planned to enhance only selective areasand balance them by not enhancing other aspects to build a balance."

"Many bright minds had tried to do the same before, yet only failure welcomed them, but it seems like he had some success, atleast to some degree because recently, the sect has found mutated abominations made out of criminals, their strength boosted to heights not achieved by even true martial geniuses,"

"They all have one thing in common, as either they were monstrously strong or fiends of qi reserve," The old man ended the explanation, and Alex could not help but wonder if his teacher was aiming to send him on a goose chase, hoping to spark feeling in him for his only other student.

It was not the first time the old man had tried to send the duo on a mission, but Alex believed this time he might be truly trying to help him, in addition to his ever-present ulterior motive.